Fitness and martial arts tips, tricks and information by an advanced health and fitness specialist.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Stop With the Protein Shakes!

O.K. enough with the F#&*!-? protein shakes.

I would love to know — and will conduct a survey shortly — if people know why they are including protein shakes in their fitness regime. I am willing to bet most people don't.

The answer I am expecting to hear from shakers is because they think it helps build muscle.

If you are one of the people who would give me that answer, you don't need to be taking a protein shake.Here is the deal: some people can metabolize only 30-40 grams of protein daily (without aid, meaning "such as drinking gallons of water to flush the excess protein out of the kidneys"). Consuming more than that amount taxes the kidneys to an unhealthy level.

General RDA is 0.8mg per kilogram of ideal body weight per day. To figure this out, take your ideal body weight and divide by 2.2 then multiply by 0.8.

For example, my formula would be:

190 / 2.2 = 8686 x 0.8= 69

For my ideal body weight, I should consume no more than 69 grams of protein per day.

Way back in the day (pre-protein shake availability), weightlifters were eating cottage cheese and beef to meet their protein needs.

Beef has all essential amino acids, plus nine essential vitamins and minerals. According to the May issue of Golf Digest, a recent study found that consuming four ounces of lean beef "can actually stimulate muscle protein synthesis by 50 percent in the young and elderly." Most cuts of beef have 7 grams of protein per ounce. So a quarter-pound lowfat patty has approximately 28 grams of protein — not too shabby.

According to this site, one serving of cottage cheese has 28 grams of protein, along with a good percentage of omega 3 fatty acids and only 9 mg of cholesterol. The last protein shake I looked at had 156 mg of cholesterol. I know shakes are convenient, but so is a container of cottage cheese.

I am not saying protein shakes don't have their place, but we don't need to live on them, either.There are better choices out there. Read the labels carefully to see what else you are getting along with your protein.

2 comments:

I'm just gobsmacked. I've seen or heard roughly three-gagillion commercials on the benefits of protein shakes. The advertisements sound straight-forward enough. Imagine my surprise when your post informed me that a serving of cottage cheese has more protein and is better for me. I guess it's another example of natural is better than manufactured. Thanks for the insight. Gene